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Art Activity Wall with Sliding Ladder!

A magnetic, chalkboard, dry erase, with sliding ladder WALL! Wow that's a mouthful!!!!But I think it all came together beautifully and my son LOVES it.......

Things I have always wanted to include in my Home Decor are galvanized wainscoting (that a friend had in their basement), a sliding ladder (from my favorite library) and chalkboard paint!! After seeing The DIY Show Off's sliding ladder and Attempting Aloha's homemade chalk paint....it inspired me to start a project and include all the things I LOVE.

This Art Activity Wall is on a 9ft wall in a hallway in front of my son's room

This project cost around $100. Here is what I used:

Homemade Chalk Paint ($10)

1 Sheet of Galvanized Steel ($24)

Pipe and Fittings ($ 30)

1x8 10ft primed board ($15)

Dry Erase Paint ($15)

Items we had on hand were wood and wheels for ladder.Here are Steps 1-4:

Step #1: Painting I made homemade chalkboard paint using white non-sanded grout and flat interior paint. I bought the grout at Home Depot for about $4. I used Glidden's Tropical Lagoon for my upper wall.

Mix 2 Tablespoons of grout to 1 Cup of paint. The paint will be slightly gritty. I used 2 cups of the blue paint and painted 2 coats on my upper wall.

I may be creative but I can't draw a straight line! So I cheat and use my handy dandy projector and some transparency paper..... I found this projector at my Habitat Store for $15! But I'm told that most libraries, schools or colleges will loan them out......

I search google images for ideas, printed them on transparency paper, project them on the wall and traced. Easy Peasy!!!This takes less than an hour:-)

Next, I mixed a little grout with some of my craft paints. We are learning our colors so I painted the train, sun and trees in bright fun colors.

After the chalkboard wall was completely dry, I prepped by wiping the whole wall down with chalk and wiping clean.

Step #2: Magnetic Wall

There are many colors of steel....I used a 36" x 10' sheet of galvanized steel for $23.30. I decided to use the sheet horizontal. Placing the 10 ft sheet on it's side saved money and we only had to make one cut for my 9 ft wall.

We framed out the steel with a 1x8 and 1x1 board,so no little fingers get cut on the steel. I painted both boards with Dry Erase paint. Dry Erase paint needs to be mixed to activate and used with in 2 hrs. and you have to wait 3 days for it to cure....I painted the boards, clouds, train windows and the closet door at the end of the hall with dry erase paint.

Step #3: Make Ladder

Mark two 4ft 2x4's and cut holes.

We cut a dowel, glued and clamped in place.

For less damage on our hardwood floors, we used rubber wheels and screwed them on sideways.

We measured and marked the amount of tilt for the ladder and cut holes

Step #4: Pipe and Fittings

We bought a 3/4" 10 ft pipe for $14.92.

Home Depot will cut and thread the pipe for free!!

So cool!

To attach the pipe and allow the ladder to slid, you will need 2 of each: floor flange, nipple and elbow. You will need the same size as your pipe. We used a 3/4" pipe but they come in larger and smaller sizes.

Screw one end to wall, thread ladder and screw in opposite end.

I found it easier to paint the ladder while it was hanging...

I painted the ladder in a chalkboard black. One felt tree and one chalkboard tree....He will be able to draw apples OR pick apples!!In my next post I will share all the adorable felt items I got from this Etsy shop...

There is so much activity and learning in-cooperated in the wall:-)

We have loooong winters here in Wyoming so this wall will provide lots of learning entertainment for years to come....

WOW!! You should totally pat yourselves on the back! What you've done is AWESOME - my boys would SOOOO love it! Thanks for sharing it & how you did it. I just might copy-cat you someday! :) LOVE LOVE LOVE what you've done!!

Michell this is beyond fabulous! You have totally outdone yourself! I could see this being incorporated in a school, or daycare. You should be proud of your beautiful project...what a lucky little guy Rains is for having a creative mom like you!

What an amazing idea!!! I so wish i could do this for My Noah's room!!I have nominated you for a blogging award over on my site!check it out!http://chasingmynoah.blogspot.com/2011/05/me-award-really.html

AHHHH!!!! I was waiting....I KNEW it was coming...I also KNEW it would be amazing but...OH MY GOODNESS! This is just incredible Michell! I know I'm using all exclamation points but I just cannot get over how fantastic this is! Thank you so much for sharing this at Inspiration Friday...I'm off to go put this up on our Facebook wall right now! :-)Vanessa

HOLY COW!!!! I am jealous! That wall is amazing! I in love with everything in that room. Your son is SO SO SO lucky to have a mom like you! I am featuring this tonight at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com. I am also putting your button on my sidebar as a "BLOG TO WATCH" for a few weeks. I should have done this months ago! You can grab the blog to watch button. Watch out Tatertots and Jello - Here comes Girl In Air.

Michell, it is feeeee-nomenal! I love it and I am sure your son is going to get into Harvard on a full academic scholarship, directly attributable to the learning fun and imagination he was given as a child. :)

SO COOL. You are such a great mom to make this for your munchkin. Heck, I wanna play with it. :-) I would love it if you would link this up to my Marvelous Mess party!! Every week I pick one project to feature on my sidebar!! Here is the link: http://marvelouslymessy.blogspot.com/2011/05/marvelous-mess-13-and-features.html

OH MY! that is the COOLEST project EVER! I would love that!! I have 2 little ones and we would enjoy that in our house! If you don't mind I am going to feature this project on my blog - this week - because I am totally in love with it and want to share it! excellent job! I am inspired! just reading more of your tutorials. wow, wow and wow!

Michelle, you are a very very very talented mama. This is incredible. I love every single thing about the wall, and can't believe you incorporated so many different things there, even dry erase, as if chalkboard wan't enough. You are truly amazing!!!

Your little guy is precious, and I can only imagine the countless hours of fun. You rock girl!!!

You never cease to amaze me with your talent and creativity! How awesome is this room?!?

You know, I've never used an overhead projector. Glad it worked for you. (I think you'd be surprised that you really CAN paint on your own though ;) You can also just blow up your image (kinko's or blueprint copy place) and transfer it onto the wall.

VERY cool! You're inspiring me to try something in my little guy's room! Found you over @ Today's Creative...just signed up to follow you, stop by when you get a chance http://juliechats.blogspot.com to see some of my papercrafting & decorating inspiration! :) Nice to meet you!

Holy incredible! That is one intense, but incredibly awesome project! I would be sooooooo proud. Officially save to my "someday" project file. :)Found you on LittleKnickKnack. Nice to see a "neighbor" from WY. Helloooooo Spring! :)

Wow... I am totally speechless, but so excited for you and your kiddos! I might have to get my carpenter hubby to try this out on a smaller scale in my office! It would remind me of Bell in the library in Beauty and the Beast!

I am seriously squealing right now. We are building a house right now and I was trying to think of something that I could do in one particular area of our upstairs landing and this would be PERFECT! Oh, my. Girl, you rock!

And as far as the projector is concerned Hobby Lobby and Michaels sells a projector (I think it is called the Tracer?) for about $50. If you use a half off coupon then you can get it for $25 like me! :) I use that projector for so many things. I've used it to create murals for our kids' walls, for creating my own artwork on blank canvases, and I recently used it to cut out a costume pattern that would have required that it be blown up using a copy machine and taped back together. That projector was a great investment.

This turned out so great! Thanks for sharing it at For the Kids Friday at Sun Scholars! You have been featured this week! Stop by and grab an A++ button for your page, and link up again for another week of fun!

Michell this realy is amazing!!! That sliding ladder is just ridiculously cool! :)I'm so glad you linked it up to Think Pink Sundays - I featured you today!! http://www.flamingotoes.com/2011/05/crush-of-the-week-think-pink-features-7/

Oh, my! LOVE IT! It's the ladder that really gets my heart racing. I love sliding ladders and I never once thought to do a small one for kids! Found you through Stories of A to Z and can't wait to get a bit more time to delve into the rest of your blog. :)

Wow! That's a lot of comments! Anyhoo! Very cool wall... I'm curious how you feel that the homemade chalkboard paint compares to the store bought chalk paint. I have several projects I'd like to do with chalk paint but am not sure of the homemade stuff! I love the creativity. I've got to follow along here, you've got some very inspiring ideas!

Holy Cow! This has to be the BEST activity wall I've ever seen! Even better that it was a joint effort. Now is this in the house you just moved into? (If it's in the house you just left, that's gonna make me sad...)

OH. MY. STARS. This is brilliant! I have been wanting to create something similar for my boy's bedroom with a ladder (to the bookshelves) but I may have to incorporate some of your ideas into it also. thanks for the great inspiration!

Through different threads, I'm here all the way from Better After. It's been a long trip through several other blogs. But here I am! And where were you when my kids were little? Oh. That's right. My kids are 28 and 24. I guess we all know where you were. Rats! Too late for my kids but your ideas and their implementation are BRILLIANT! Thank you so much for sharing them with the world and reminding me that I can do anything I set my mind to as long as I can dream up ways of overcoming my limitations. You have a very lucky little boy. I know that he appreciates all that you do. At least he will when he starts realizing what the other little boys DON'T have at their houses! Thanks again!

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WELCOME! I am so glad you are HERE! I am a wife, mom and STORE OWNER! I have a passion to share projects BIG or small...check out my tutorial page. I have been crazy busy with my new store so blog posts are few and far between but I still plan to share projects as time allows. Please feel free to contact me at girlinair@hotmail.com
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